Ugh

Well, I didn't mean to be gone for so long, and this will probably be kind of a short post. We had a good Easter and visit with Patrick and Amanda, but last week ended up being kind of a blur. Things were really hectic and difficult at work, and a ton of people were coming to the house otherwise for repairs, estimates, etc. On top of which I felt really awful, and figured I was getting hit with allergies.

But instead, over the weekend, I realized I had an upper respiratory infection, which is a "regular" event for me, but had taken a break for the most part during and shortly after the pandemic.

I feel like the poor pup above. The worst parts are the severe coughing and exhaustion as a result because I get very little sleep. In the past, I would call my dr's office and she would call in some cough syrup for me, so that the coughing would settle down enough that I could sleep for a few hours at a time. But that Dr - who was one of my fave people ever - joined an MD-VIP practice which I could a) not afford, and b) have philosophical issues with, and so I switched to another practice somewhere because the one I was with for so long had no other drs taking new patients. And when I called this morning to ask for medicine, I was told I would have to visit the office first, and they would contact me later for an appt on either "Thursday or Friday." And I get it, I really do, but I have had this so many times that I know exactly what it is. So I have at least a couple of more days of feeling just plain awful before there is any relief in sight. 😕

I can read for little bits of time, but don't have the concentration to knit. So at least for the immediate future, I can't even take advantage of feeling like all I have the energy to do is sit in a chair. 

So that's where I've been and where I am at the moment. I'm not sure if I'll feel with it enough to post again soon, but if I do, you'll hear from me.

In the meantime, I hope if you are in the eclipse area, you enjoy seeing it, and no matter where you are, I hope your week goes well. That's it for now.

Remember When You Didn't Get Sick?

Ugh. I have a cold. A really awful, coughing, tired, blow-my-nose-all-the-time cold. Not Covid (at least according to the test), but a real cold.  The Tim had one last week, and I think I caught it from him, because actually the only place I regularly do not wear a mask is at home. I suspect he caught it from a co-worker, as he told me that a couple of weeks ago, one of his co-workers had a cold and he had to sit near them at lunchtime. Sigh.

I have the red nose and the box of tissues, but this woman looks a whole lot better than I do right now!

Anyway, I felt truly miserable starting on Friday, and then just awful over the weekend.  I still feel crummy today, but not any worse than before, so in theory perhaps that means things are moving towards feeling some better.  The Tim is feeling better, but still has a cough.  Both of us mega-masked up and went to work today, him because he is feeling better and missed most of last week, and me because I don't really see anyone else at work in any way that could be considered close (I mean, we might be on the same floor of the building, but most of the time I'm on my own for the entire day). If I had still felt really awful, I would have stayed home (and likely been lectured about it by the annoying supervisor), but since I only feel tired and have to blow my nose a lot at this point, I figured I might as well show up.

Over the weekend, I kept trying to figure out why I was suddenly sick, when I haven't been sick for a bit more than two years. And then it struck me - of course! For the past two and a bit more years, people have stayed home, stayed apart when they had to be in the same area, most of them (at least around me) wore masks, and as a result, I felt fine.

So although I think Covid has and still does suck big-time, there were advantages to certain aspects of life when everyone was being so careful.

Now please excuse me while I open a new box of tissues.

And Now ... We Wait

Oh Pennsylvania, please do the right thing!

Arizona - YES! (Something I have never said before.)

But unlike what we have been told by a certain Liar-in-Chief, we still don't know who has won the election for President.  So don't lose hope.

So what did you do yesterday, besides voting if you already had not by mail? I had big plans.  Well, big plans for once I was home, since Tuesdays are one of the days I'm at work in our building.  I was going to spend the evening knitting, reading, occasionally watching the results as they came in on TV, and of course enjoying a libation (or drowning my sorrows if necessary).  

Instead, I spent most of the day in bed, or sitting in a chair, feeling like I was going to die.  My original plan had been to go last Friday to get the second part of my shingles vaccine.  It turned out that Friday got all turned around, so I didn't go until yesterday.  Which was stupid, I should have waited until Friday of this week.  Because I got the shot on Monday afternoon, came home and other than a sore armw was fine.  Suddenly (seriously, all of a sudden), I was feverish, had one of the worst headaches ever, and felt like I was freezing.  I barely slept, and then not well, and so yesterday was spent in a weird sick haze.  I couldn't have made it into work if we had been getting paid a million dollars to show up.  My headache kept me from being able to read or to knit - I just sat and existed.  FINALLY around 9 p.m. I started to rejoin the land of the living, and today I feel fine.  But really, UGH.  I've learned my lesson - do not go for a flu or shingles shot if you are supposed to be somewhere the next day.

At least today I can function, so I shall continue with my plans that were for yesterday, omitting of course going in to work (even if I wanted to, I can't go into the building if it's not my day to be there).  I finished the first of the socks I was knitting, and will at least get the other one started.  And I want to cast on for a sweater, so maybe that will happen today as well.  I have about 50 pages left in a current book I'm reading, which is an enjoyable cozy mystery (the only thing I can handle right now).  

Keep the faith.  We can still hope.

How About Another FO?

You may have noticed that I was MIA last week.  I was sick, the kind where you can't really concentrate, you have a slight fever and are miserable, and any food goes ZIP right through your system.  Ugh.  I am feeling better enough to function, and the good news is that at least right now, I do not have Covid-19, as my doctor feared; I had a test and it was negative which was a relief all the way around.  So I'll take that and just hope I feel completely better in the next few days.

I was planning to post this FO last week, but well, see above.  So you are getting one today, to start this week.

Project:  Budgie Socks

Pattern:  Blueberry Waffle Socks, by Sandy Turner**

Yarn:  Hedgehog Fibres Sock, in the colorway Budgie

Needles:  US size 1

Modification:  I only knitted the pattern on the leg, and knit the foot plain.

Notes:  I am so very happy with these socks!  I've had this yarn for a while, thinking I'd save it to make something special.  But in the end, I decided it should be socks.  I remember buying the yarn because of its name as much as the color.  I had several beloved budgies (parakeets in the US) as a kid, though they were not blue ones, and my sister had a blue budgie for quite a few years which her kids just adored.  His name - unimaginative but truthful - was Budgie.  

At first I tried to find some kind of pattern that evoked birds, or feathers, or something like that, but in the end, I decided on the old favorite, tried-and-true waffle pattern, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.  

If you have never tried this pattern, you should because you always end up with squishy, lovely socks and the pattern is an easy (and free!) one.  I've never been disappointed in the results.

Here's a slightly more closeup photo:

Happy socks, happy me!

**this is a link to Ravelry - I wanted to let people know so that they can avoid clicking over if it causes problems for them

Rain, Sorting, and Ick - A Weekend in Review

I must agree with this pup.  But just as I'm sure his day went on, and hopefully improved, mine will too. 

It was an odd weekend.  Not terrible, just ... odd.  Saturday was a major rain day here in Philadelphia.  I mean, it POURED for the bulk of the day.  And it was windy, too, so if you never looked out the window, you might have thought you were on the English moors of Wuthering Heights.  The good thing about that is that I used a good chunk of the day to review/organize my stash and knitting supplies.  I found some things that had been given to me over the past year that I just wasn't loving, and nowadays if I don't love something, I tend to give it away or donate it.  I have finally gotten my stash to the point where what it contains are things I am keeping on purpose because I plan to actually use them.  Over the years, I had bought so many yarns "just because" that when I decided several years back to be ruthless and realistic, I was left with a stash that was mindful.  In the past year, a few people have given me yarns that they found in a relative's belongings, and passed to me 'since you know how to knit.'  And that's fine, because I have the distinct feeling that if I didn't take the stuff, it would be trashed rather than donated.  But it was almost all things that I either don't like (yarn with stuff in it - you know, like buttons, etc. that make it "artistic") or that I just know I won't ever use.  Since we have a women's shelter in town that has a knitting group, I like to pass that stuff on to them.  According to the person who runs the group, the women get excited to have things that are new/different to them. 

Anyway, I got those things together, as well as some extra needles and notions and got them ready to drop off.  This also served to get the whole room in better order, a bonus for sure.

We also watched some shows and movies during the afternoon and evening.  Every year, we try to make an effort to watch some movies that are nominated for Oscars in one category or another.  So far this year, we've seen "Marriage Story," "The Irishman," and "The Two Popes."  Eclectic, no??

Sunday it wasn't raining, but ugh.  I woke up with all kinds of aches and pains, and for a good part of the day, gastrointestinal issues.  I didn't feel terrible, but I didn't feel good.  So I mostly stayed put, and the good thing is that I got very close to finishing a pair of socks I'm making for The Tim as a Valentine's Day gift!  I have just a couple of inches on the foot of the second sock, and then the toe, and they will be finished.  This makes me happy because now I don't have to worry about them being finished in time.  It also means I can start on a test knit I'm doing (who AM I?) for one of the ladies who runs Nice and Knit.  Then in March, my friend and former Rosie's co-worker Andrea and I are having a sock knitalong.  We are going to try the Clark Socks by Jaclyn Salem.  I'm looking forward to it!

One funny thing about us having a knitalong - when we worked together at Rosie's, every time we'd see a pattern that we liked, or a new book/magazine arrived, we'd find something we both wanted to make.  We would spend time choosing what yarns to use, and discuss it ad nauseum.  Do you know how many things resulted from these various knitalongs?  Zero.  :-)  So it will be fun to *actually* cast on and get going this time ... 

I'm feeling better today (of course, it's a work day, right??), and hoping that this week at work will be as uneventful as possible.  We are in the near-end stages of a renovation of our workspace, and it has been horrific.  Theoretically, this week should be quieter.  We'll see.

Anyway, here we go with another week and the last one in January at that.  Let's hope it's a good one!

Blergh

Just a note to let you know that I have been, and likely will be, incommunicado for a bit.  My cold, which started to feel a bit better towards the end of last week, got worse again over the weekend and now I apparently have pneumonia. 

I don't really feel good enough to do much of anything, but I am reading your blogs even if I don't feel like commenting.  I'm hoping I'll feel at least OK enough to go to my haircut appt this weekend, since it was hard to get in the first place.

But who knows.  I'll just do the best I can, and hopefully this won't drag on much longer than necessary.

I promise to be back as soon as I feel like I've returned to the land of the living. :-)

Lost Weekend

Ugh. I am sick, sick, sick.  Nothing life-threatening, just annoying and exhausting.  The Tim had a bit of a cold last week, but it didn't really do much and was gone pretty quickly.  I had some sniffles early in the week, but kept feeling a little bit more icky each day.  A while back, we had planned to be in Baltimore this weekend, but had to cancel those plans due to The Tim's work schedule.  I had decided originally that I would just go ahead and take the Friday and Monday off work as originally planned, and work on some of my own stuff, enjoying an extra long weekend.

So much for those plans.  Thursday I woke up and thought, well, I'm getting that cold.  But Friday when I woke up, WHAM it had hit me!  Sore throat, headache, cough and congestion, the whole thing, soon followed by laryngitis.  I called my dr to ask for some cough syrup, and the good news is that in a very unusual development, she gave me the Good Stuff right away!  But that's really the only good news from the last few days.  I will probably stay home tomorrow as planned, but I am wondering if I should try to tough it out and stay home on Tuesday instead.  They are predicting heavy, all-day rain on Tuesday (left over from Hurricane Florence), and I'm not looking forward to slogging around in that.  Anyway, we'll see.  I'm lucky because a cold is my worst problem, but it is still frustrating. 

Anyway.

One of the things I had planned on doing was finishing a pair of socks I'm knitting for one of my sisters.  I am really close, and was hoping to have them completed by today.  But I have neither the energy nor the focus to even knit.  So they will have to wait.  I did have it together yesterday long enough to soak and block a swatch I'd made and immediately forgot about when I couldn't find my blocking mats. 

Before going any further, I'm waiting until I can trust my brain cells, but I *think* I have the correct gauge, which would be nice.  It doesn't matter today anyway, since I am still not able to knit without having to tear it out and start over once I'm feeling better.

******

In other news, Hamlet is getting more used to the cats every day.  Not that he was ever aggressive towards them, but you could tell he was perplexed when they would try to rub against him,  or try to cuddle with him.  He just had no idea how to react.  But the other day, he let the Koodle lick his ears, and yesterday he and Jack had a nose-to-nose moment.  Also the other day, he was even brave enough to sleep on his pad, though the Koodle was already there!

Baby steps, right?

OK, I'm calling it the end now - this has already taken me about 45 minutes to do, and I think I will take my cough syrup and see if I can take a nap.  I hope your weekend has been better than mine!

Sick Day Monday

Hello all - I hope you had a good weekend.  Mine was nice - a good combination of being productive and not doing anything.  Then in the middle of the night last night, I woke up, and the cold that had been seeming to be on its way for a week or so, had apparently decided to arrive.  When I got up this morning, I felt so awful, I took a sick day from work.  I've spent a lot of the day sleeping, and between that and the cold meds, I'm feeling a bit more with it, so I thought I'd write a post, though I don't really have much to report.

Over the last week, I have gotten a fair amount of knitting done, which has been nice.  I had put everything else aside while concentrating on the baby sweater, so I felt a bit behind on things.  Fortunately, none of my other knitting projects have any outside deadlines, so it's not an issue that they were briefly ignored.  I am a little bit bummed, since I realized after paying some bills that I won't be able to join Vera and Dee this coming weekend at the Allentown Fiber Festival.  Yes, I *could* go, but I couldn't buy anything.  And I know I don't have to, but I like to get at least some little thing to remember the event.  So I'll just keep working with what I have, and hope to go next year.  The costs so far for my dental implant have really taken a huge chunk out of our finances.  The periodontist doesn't take dental insurance, and though they are nice enough to send in the paperwork for you, you still have to cough up payment when you're there.

Last night I tried a recipe for dinner that sounded like it would be really good, but it was a bust.  Not inedible, but definitely not worth making the effort.  I guess they can't all be winners, right?

Not much else is new otherwise.  Supposedly the weather is supposed to become more spring-like this week around here, so that will be a nice change.  I'm just glad that our daffodils survived after blooming and then getting snowed on!  They managed to hang in there and stay happy, which I guess is something we should all try to take to heart.  :-)

We'll see what else this week brings - I hope you have one that treats you well!

Thinking About 2017

Hello all - I'm still here!  Two days after Christmas Day, I woke up with the start of the cold/crud thing that everyone seems to be getting, has, or has finally gotten over.  Weird, too, since usually I can feel things coming on in one way or another, but this was a complete surprise.  The worst part is that although I feel better than I did, I don't feel like I'm making great progress, even with the help of prescription meds.  Since everyone I know (including my dr) has said this hangs on for a longer time than expected, I'm hoping it will eventually leave and not turn in to anything worse.  But wow, do I feel awful!

In any event, I'm sure I'll survive, and I'm glad I'm not any sicker than I am.  So time to move on and talk about something else, right?

From what I have heard, everyone enjoyed the knits I gifted them for Christmas.  I even received photographic proof for two of them!

This is my great-nephew Zach in the hat I made for him with the colors of the Baltimore Orioles.  My niece Liz posted this picture on Facebook on Christmas Day, and said he wore it outside to play first thing after opening gifts.  (Personally, I hope he removed the gift tag, LOL!)

Then there is Patrick, my niece Amanda's husband (they are the ones with the family house in Rehoboth).  He posted this picture on Facebook, saying it was his favorite Christmas gift.

He also said his friends have given him lots of compliments and asked if I had a website where they could buy one.  I find that hysterical.

But it's always nice to see pictures of gifts you've made for someone.  I always figure that even if they wear it for the photo only, and then give it away, they went out of their way to acknowledge your efforts.

I've also been thinking about what I want to do in 2017 in various areas.  I'm deciding on my One Little Word.  I've decided that for the most part, I'm going to knit for myself, The Tim, or for our house this year.  For the knitting that I do, 99% I give away.  Which is fine, but I really want to make some things for ME!  In that spirit, I did start a pair of socks on January 2.

I'm at the heel flap now, so they are moving along very well.  There are several other knits rattling around in my brain that I want to try and make a list so I'll remember what they are, and try to make some of those.  And of course, I'll still make things for others and for donation, but I think I deserve some stuff for myself.  :-)

I am also thinking of some additional goals for myself this year, and want to narrow it down to those I am most interested in achieving.  I do better with goals than resolutions, because to me they do not seem as restrictive.  I realize it's as much psychology and semantics as anything else, but it works better so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

That's about it for now.  I'm planning to share my 2016 knitting wrap up, reading wrap up, and Harry's Hundred wrap up with you soon, and who knows what other golden nuggets from my brain will come along?

I hope that 2017 is treating you well so far - it has been so far, so good for us.  There is plenty that I am not looking forward to (aka the ascendancy of The Orange One and his bros), but I'm going to try and not let that define things for me, at least not at the moment.

Sometimes, you have to hunker down into yourself to stay sane ...

Nice Try, Universe

Hello there - I hope you are all enjoying and/or surviving December.  Thanks for all the nice comments about my post welcoming the month.

Remember the cold I had, that had started to worm its way into my system over Thanksgiving?  Well, for a couple of days, it acted all casual, like "OK, Bridget, I'll give up and you can feel better, no big deal."  And I was pleased about that.  And then, the Universe apparently stepped in and said, "Nope.  You're gonna have to feel a lot worse before you can even *think* of feeling better."  And I have NOT been pleased about that.  I have, however, carried on as best I can (even if I basically was just able to function well enough to go to work, and then would come home and crash), so I feel that the joke is [mostly] on the universe.   Because in spite of its efforts, I've still been happily thinking about it being Christmastime, listening to Christmas music, and reading Christmas-themed books.  Granted, I have also been taking medicine, cough syrup, and cough and throat drops.   But. Not. The. Point. ;-)

However, as a result, I am behind on things, so I have decided to extend the deadline for anyone who wants to participate in the Great 2016 Holiday Snail Mail Card Exchange, to the end of the day on Tuesday, December 6.  Then I'll send out the list to everyone on Wednesday, December 7.  So far we have a few people, so I think it will be easily manageable for everyone involved, and anyone else who would like to join us.  So please do, the more the merrier!

We did something we haven't done for a while last night - had a small gathering and a dinner party.  We had originally invited people for the day after Thanksgiving, but since both of us were sick we rescheduled for last night.  It was pretty low-key, and nothing very complicated was served, and we had a great time.  Though no one left until about 1:30 a.m.!!  I cannot remember when I have been up so late on purpose, and I was pretty useless today as a result.  But it was worth it.  Though I think the most exhausted family members were the cats ...

This week our Christmas plans and preparations really go into gear.  The Tim is planning to bring the boxes o' decorations up, and we'll go and pick out a tree.  So exciting!

I hope all of you have had a good weekend, and are not feeling crummy at all like I am!  I'll be back soon with more ramblings.  Have a good week!

Post Thanksgiving

We had a lovely, if more quiet than usual, Thanksgiving.  Both of us woke up feeling slightly under the weather - not horrible, just not great.  So we did even less then we usually do (as in, usually we'll take a nice long walk in the early afternoon.  This year we barely went back and forth to the kitchen and bathroom).  The Tim took a couple of naps, and though we had our stuffing (AT LAST! and it was wonderful), and other holiday foods, we didn't eat as much as usual - or even fix as much.  Except for stuffing, which we always make in huge amounts, since we both like it left over as much as the first time ...

This was all fine with the cats.  The first sight I saw on Thanksgiving morning once I'd gotten myself up and moving was this:

We've had this pad a long time, and never before - well, at least that we could see - have two cats shared it.

The theme continued, with variations throughout the day:

In the evening, Milo decided that he wanted to sit on my lap.  Jack was already ensconced, and before I knew it, they were both there.  And no altercations!

Clearly the whole family was enjoying Thanksgiving.  ;-)

The Tim had to work the next morning, and I decided to go out to a couple of places for some specific items I wanted for gifts.  No, I am not one of the morally superior types who scoffs at the idea of going out on the day after Thanksgiving to shop.  Granted, it's not crazy in Center City Philadelphia, since most people drive to a mall somewhere, but it's still busy and crowded enough.  But I go very early, and I knew that the things I wanted to get would not be likely to be around very long if I waited.  As it turns out, I got both items on sale, so it was a worthwhile adventure.  I was home by lunchtime, and enjoyed the rest of the day reading and knitting.

The story changed late Friday night when I started to feel slightly more off.  I'd actually felt better on Friday than on Thanksgiving, and was happy to not be getting really sick.  Ha ha.  For the next 24 hours, I had a miserable gastrointestinal bug.  And only I was lucky enough to get it - The Tim was fine.  Which is a good thing, since he had to work all weekend, but I guess the bug was not the result of something I ate or drank, because we both had the same things.  Fortunately, I felt better by dinnertime on Saturday.

Lest I get through the weekend with only that glitch, though, I woke up on Sunday morning with a scratchy throat and a cough.  Which as the day continued, got considerably worse.  I lost my voice, and could barely swallow.  So I started taking some Day-Quil and rustled up some Rx cough syrup left from my last episode.  By this morning, I was feeling better though still not great, and I can at least talk well enough to be understood.  Imagine how pleased I was to come back to work [insert sarcasm].

On the plus side, I did - for real this time - finish the last of the Turn A Square hats!  I felt good enough intermittently to knit, and it worked up really quickly (at this point I think I could knit the pattern in my sleep. LOL).  So I'll show you that sometime soon.

And so.  My absolute last planned item that would be sent to the recipient for Christmas is complete.  I'm feeling really good about it.  I think I mentioned in another post that I also toyed with the idea recently of knitting a hat for my little great-niece Penn as well.  Today is November 28.  My plan is to cast on tonight, see how it goes, and if it is smooth sailing, I think I can have it knit by the end of the month.  I mean, it's a kid's hat, and I have three evenings to work on it.

Snow, No Pictures, and Sick

Hello from snowy Philadelphia!  That was pretty amazing, I have to say!  For once, they predicted something and it did not disappoint.

I didn't take any snow pictures, because I knew I wouldn't be able to load them onto the computer.  So instead, you'll just have to look at all the other bazillions that others took and posted.  :-)

We stayed put yesterday, going out only to walk Dug and to do some shoveling towards the end of the afternoon.  It wasn't as bad as it has been sometimes, but it was better to be inside unless you had to be out.  And we only did a bit of shoveling - mostly so Dug could see the stairs when we went out - because, in only moments, it was covered again anyway.

Today we were out more, walking around, doing more shoveling, seeing how things were.  It was a lovely day, and fortunately it was snowy but not icy, which is of course what will start happening this week when it's sunny in the day and then below freezing at night.  We LOVE snow, but none of us like ice.  It was so nice to get real snow, and not some wimpy dusting, which was what we got only a few times last winter.

Now I know that it was dangerous for some, fatal for some, and life-threatening for some.  I'm not making light of that.  But I love winter, and to me, winter is snow.  If more people paid attention to local officials and stayed off the roads, and paid more attention to Mother Nature and dressed/behaved appropriately, it would not be as threatening, but people are people.  We are lucky, we know that the snow is ultimately in charge, so we work with it and do our best otherwise.  Other people are not as fortunate and lose power, have to be out on the roads and face those kinds of dangers, etc.  It can be very scary.

I'm not sure how much I'll be posting this week, since I am definitely coming down with something.  As the day has gone on, I've felt more and more like I am getting sick.  Fortunately, no fever, so that's good news.  But I have to make every effort to get to work if possible, since we had a big chunk of sick time taken away from us, and I didn't have that much left to start.  So I may very well come home from work, eat something, and that will be it!  If you don't hear from me, that may be why.  Ick.

However, I do have some exciting things to show you in a future post, and I can give you a hint: items for Harry's Hundred!!  I'm so excited that it's truly underway, and that people are wanting to participate.  So I'm hoping at a minimum I can do a post about those, and a Ten on Tuesday.

For now, I'm gonna go put my pajamas on, make some tea, and read my book for a while.  Some medicine at bedtime will hopefully start knocking whatever this is out of my system, and I'll be back to normal (well ... you know what I mean) sooner rather than later.

Have a good week, and be careful out there.  But enjoy whatever you can.

Our deck in a 2010 snowstorm - consider this my snow picture! 

Though we have a LOT more now ...  :-)

Sunday Sicko

No real post of any substance today, as I woke up coughing, with a sore throat and chills.  So I'm just gonna take it easy and hope that this is the worst of it.

But here is a picture that will hopefully give you a smile on this Sunday.

Dug and Milo - best buddies since the first moment they met  

Have a lovely Sunday!

NaBloPoMo Day #15

Thinking

The past week has been one of those where I have done just too much thinking - not that thinking is bad, but I get into these spells of thinking too hard and too long over things, and I drive myself insane!  These are not things like, "Can I pay the bills?" or "What should I fix for dinner?"

Instead, I think about when/where/how I will die.

Or what will happen to my pets in that event.

Will I die first?

Why do people - myself included - judge others so easily?

Have I done anything worthwhile for anyone while I've been on this earth?

What could I have done?

What can I do?

Why don't we have any chocolate in the house?

Does God really exist?  (I think so, for what that is worth.)

And on and on and on.  Big things, small things, unanswerable things.  Some things that are entirely too self-absorbed.

Does anyone else have times like this?  I think I deal with them well, but in my case, I also find it exhausting.

Then this week, I seem to have caught the cold that The Tim had last week.

I tell you, it's like my mother used to say, "It's either an a** or an elbow with you, isn't it?"

Have a good week - and try not to do more any more thinking than you have to!  :-)

Relaxation With No Regrets

Here are some of the things I've been doing the past few days.

Starting

Finishing

Reading

Writing

Pampering

Baking

Celebrating

And then Monday morning my cold kicked in, so now I'm also

Medicating

At least I didn't have to take a sick day, even though I felt lousy.  And it just meant I had to just relax some more, and I was OK with that, you know?

Today, though - back to the real world.  But at least it's a four-day work week!  Let's hope it's a good one for all of us.  :-)

Extra Long Long Weekend

Oh the wonderfulness of being at home!  And I have been since Thursday!

I usually take Valentine's Day as a day off, if I can.  Because it's Jetsam and Pip's birthdays, and it's Valentine's Day.  Unlike most other people, I actually like Valentine's Day.  I think of it as a day when you let people know that you are thinking of them and love them, as opposed to a day only for romantic love.  Growing up, we always got a card on Valentine's Day, and usually some little gift - often candy, maybe a book, a pair of earrings, something.  And yes, I do agree that you should let people know that they are special/that you love them every day, but so what?   Should I skip my birthday because other people may have also been born that day?  (As Basil Fawlty would say, "Not bloody likely.")

So, I had planned the day off on Friday, and then it turns out that Monday is President's Day, which is a holiday where I work.  A nice four-day weekend.  Then it snowed big-time on Wednesday, so we actually had a snow day on Thursday - that hardly ever happens!  But it did mean I ended up with a five-day weekend - YAY!!

Granted, I have not felt great, as I think I am getting a cold - sore throat, congestion, aches - but the fact is that I AM NOT AT WORK.  And I'm loving every single minute.  I'm getting things done, but also enjoying lots of down time, cuddles with the kitties and Dug, and time with The Tim when he is home.  My time is my own, for real.

A lot of people might think that I should use this time to do as much as possible.  But I am trying to: a) avoid getting really sick, so taking it easy, and b) making an effort to tell myself that every waking minute does not have to be "useful" to be worthwhile.

Plus, I get to be at home!  As much as I enjoy traveling and exploring, home is truly where my heart is.  and there are two WHOLE days left!

Sometimes, life is good.  :-)

Our front gate

ThisClose

I am actually ThisClose to finishing a project that has taken way too long.  Not due to difficulty, or not enough yarn, just because of me!  I don't want to say any more and possibly jinx it, but hopefully sooner rather than later I'll have a blog post and a picture for you.

I have been thinking lately about how I really need to take my measurements and understand what they mean, as far as knitting goes, in particular.  I always hesitate with large projects (aka sweaters), since I never feel confident that I really know what size I should make.  Recently, I bought a copy of Amy Herzog's Knit to Flatter, which talks about not only knowing your own measurements, but how to get accurate ones, and what that means related to what you are trying to knit.

I also see on her website that she is launching something called CustomFit, which looks promising.  For whatever reasons, I feel that she is trustworthy.  I think part of it is that she looks in pictures like a very friendly, approachable person, with a normal kind of body.  (If you know her and she is not, please don't tell me.  I want to enjoy my little fantasy at least a bit longer.)

In other news, my shingles - though much improved - have put yet another damper on something for me.  I was supposed to teach a six-week Beginner Knitting class at Rosie's, starting this past Monday.  I was truly excited about it, because a) I had missed teaching it last winter, due to my interminably long pneumonia-like illness, and b) I love the idea of getting new knitters started!  So even though things were doing OK, my doctor suggested that adding an evening class to my work schedule might not be the best idea.  So now someone else is doing it.  Which dismays me, because I hate pulling out of something like that at all, much less twice in a row, and also because I was hoping to use the money I made for holiday gifts.

Stupid shingles.

But, onward, as they say.  I'll go back to my ThisClose project, and start planning what will be next, or decide if any holiday gifts are coming off the needles this year.  And just hope that I not only get another chance to teach Beginner Knitting, but that I stay healthy enough to actually do it!

See ya.

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly. The OK. The Happy.

The Good.

We had a FABULOUS weekend this past weekend!  One of my nieces and her husband have access to a beach house in Rehoboth Beach, and they invited us to hang out with them.  Even Dug the Doodle Dog went along, and all of us had a great time!  The weather was gorgeous - cool, sunny, and clear.  We didn't do anything special, just spent time together, hung out on the beach, and did a lot of laughing.  It was so great.  (Dug is still recovering ...)

The Bad.

I had big plans to finish my Breezy Turquoise by the first day of fall.  And I was making real progress, until the past couple of weeks, when we were getting ready for Members' Night at work.  It's a BIG DEAL, and by the time I'd get home, I would be too exhausted to think, much less knit.  Then the weekends were busy working on a house project, which was fortunately finished, but meant that no knitting was accomplished.  I took it with me this past weekend, and ended up not knitting a single stitch.

The Ugly.

Shingles.  I haz 'em.  On me, not on the roof.  Goodbye, small amount of sick time and vacation I had left at work.  :-(  I have been ordered to stay home the rest of the week to see how well I do/do not recover.

The OK.

In my effort to make lemonade out of the above lemon, I am hoping that over the next few days, I will be able to be comfortable enough somehow to knit on my Breezy Turquoise.  My new goal is to finish it before Halloween.  If I can find a way to sit that is not ridiculously painful, I could really make some progress.  This is currently the only thing keeping me from complete despair.

The Happy.

Ending on a good note, I am so very thrilled that those of you who received packages from my blogiversary giveaway were pleased with what your packages contained.  The lovely notes that you have sent to me has made me so happy, and I know that the things I sent out will have happy homes where they are loved and used.  Which was the whole idea in the first place.  So to those who wrote, you are more than welcome.  And to everyone else, I hope you'll keep reading.  :-)

Let's all hang in there!

Hello February!

I think it's safe to say that for me at least, January was a horrible month.  I spent so much of it being sick - and the last part being *really* sick, the kind where reading and/or knitting is not even possible.  I had such plans to get organized, and start on a couple of household projects, and am lucky if the laundry got done ...

So, I was not really sorry for January to be over, and am happy to see February.  Unlike most people, I actually like February.  It has Valentine's Day, which is also the day we celebrate Jetsam and Pip's birthdays, it has February 2nd, which is a three-fer (Groundhog Day, St. Blaise Day, James Joyce's birthday), one of my sisters has her wedding anniversary this month, and it's a nice, compact month.  I am still not feeling great, but I feel better enough to slowly get back to my usual self, and have at least felt good enough to read.  Today I'll be back at Rosie's for the first time in several weeks, so I'll be back to knitting too.  :-)  (And I'm sure will exhaust me way more than it should.)

This evening, we'll have pizza for dinner and "watch" the Super Bowl.  That's in quotes because we usually don't watch every minute of the game, we go back and forth between that and other stuff.  We do enjoy the commercials, and if the score is close, we'll usually watch most of the fourth quarter.  We always skip the halftime show.  This year, it's extra funny for us, because we have family in Baltimore and in San Francisco, and they are having a mascots' contest dressing up their cats over on Facebook.  (And I'm sure the cats are plotting their revenge!)  I find it very appropriate that the Ravens QB is from Audubon, New Jersey.  Though admittedly, I'm likely the only one who finds that tidbit interesting.

And on that note, I shall leave you to enjoy your day, and your February, in your own way.  Here's a picture that might make you smile to end the post.

Bathroom Sink Love

In Which I Know Best ...

Hello all!  I hope you are all staying warm and safe this week, since it sounds like it's cold/snowy/freezing in so much of the country.  As you already know, I have been waiting for winter weather, so my complaint is not with that.

This is a story about how I have been incredibly sick for the past week, and how it took way too much time and effort to get the right meds.

A week ago yesterday, I left work feeling kinda sick.  I thought it was because a co-worker who had just returned from a smoking break spent about half an hour in my office.  I had a funny taste, and my throat felt scratchy, and I was having a hard time breathing.  But then even once I got home, I just kept feeling worse.  Figured, well crap, I'm getting something, and then went to bed.

My usual morning routine on a work day is:  get up, feed starving felines, take Dug for a walk and feed him, shower, dress, fix and eat my own breakfast, go to work.  About two minutes into my walk with Dug, I knew that when I got home, I'd have to make myself a cup of tea and sit for a bit.  First I thought I would just go in late, but after about half an hour, realized it just wasn't happening.  Sent an e-mail to my boss, and to my dr's office, and went back to bed.

Thursday and Friday were just kind of a blur.  Coughing, chills, runny nose, congestion, the whole thing, and every once in a while, a slight fever.  Dr said he would prescribe something, and it is the same thing he prescribes every time I'm sick, which I learned through experience and another dr I saw in an emergency masks the symptoms.  Plus, I could not get more 1 1/2-2 hours of sleep at a time.  Now, I know from a lifetime of previous experience that the ONE THING that works for me, every single time, and gives me a chance to get sleep, is codeine cough syrup.  ALWAYS.

I asked the dr for some.  He said he thought it wasn't necessary (he usually says this for about two weeks).  Over the weekend, I called the on call dr, who was very sympathetic, but said I should add some over-the-counter meds to my prescription meds, and they would help.  Which of course they didn't.  So finally on Tuesday, I called the office again, and asked if someone - anyone, the janitor, the electrician, anyone - could take a listen to my lungs.  Because I felt no better, and was starting to worry that I had pneumonia.  They said that a nurse practitioner had time and since it was The Tim's day off, he took me right over.

She talked to me, went over things, and did an exam.  No pneumonia, thank goodness, but "severe exacerbation of asthma from a bad cold."  (I had no idea I had a cold!)  And most importantly, she prescribed codeine cough syrup.

Tuesday night, I slept the whole night, and yesterday, finally felt like I might live.  The dr told me to stay put until Monday, to be sure I'm doing better and so I can get some much-needed rest.

Today is the first day in a week when I felt like a human being again.  Granted, a human being who still feels like crap, but such a noticeable improvement!

I know that codeine is a controlled substance, and shouldn't be taken for anything and everything.  But for my entire existence it has been the one drug that allows me to get a decent amount of rest whenever I've had a bad cough.  And I always have to suffer for about 10 days at a minimum before the dr even considers it.

I can't decide if I should ask for a refill and hoard it, or switch drs.  Or both.  But thank God I feel better.  I can't remember ever feeling so terrible for so long.  For no reason.

Onward!